121eCommerce

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the business development manager for an HVAC manufacturer and we make equipment. We do a lot of e-commerce but we also sell to contractors, wholesalers, and building engineers as well. We stock parts and ship them all over the US.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 121eCommerce - Magento Certified Partner?

We needed to upgrade from Magento 1 to Magento 2.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

121eCommerce - Magento Certified Partner helped us upgrade to Magento 2. They took all of our old data and processed it and converted it for Magento 2. The team also just redesigned our website for us as well. The process consisted of going through an entire scope. They looked at what we wanted to add and what we wanted to change for our new website. They took that into the scope and laid out what they wanted to do for us, and we accepted.

What is the team composition?

We were directly in contact with Sholom (Client Advocate). Originally when getting the project going, I spoke with Benjamin (CEO). I’ve also talked with about four other developers.

How did you come to work with 121eCommerce - Magento Certified Partner?

They reached out to us, along with a bunch of other companies, regarding the end of Magento 1. When Benjamin reached out, we connected right away and he stuck out as a friendly guy. I also liked his approach more than the others.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent roughly $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from November 2019–October 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

We’re very happy that it only took a year to convert everything and redesign the site. That might seem long for some people but we have 14,000 skews that we handle and about 6,000 customers, so it’s not a small feat. The transition has been smooth.

Our customers really like the new design of the website. We’ve gotten positive feedback regarding the new layout and the functionality of the site. It was initially difficult for the customers because they had to set all new passwords, but we’ve gotten past that now.

How did 121eCommerce - Magento Certified Partner perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated over Slack, and they were really responsive. The team was very prompt and hit deadlines. If I had something urgent, they put that at the top of the list and were very good with organization. They also gave a weekly update through a video of their screen, using Vidyard. They went over the project, things they were working on, and what stage the project was in, which was a good visual.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were reliable and their communication was top-notch. We wouldn’t be able to function if our website was down for an hour. 121eCommerce - Magento Certified Partner put everything out on the table.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They were kind of limited to some of the software. If there was a problem, they may only give one way of solving it. I would like multiple ways of solving it and to have more options.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Look into your own extensions to customize the website a bit more because they didn’t really go into that or go over them very well.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president and founder of J8ta Industries. We’re a tech-enabled online marketplace for selling new construction homes.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 121eCommerce - Magento Certified?

I went through 6–7 developers in an effort to find one who could build a very unique adaptation of Magento. I spent three years and over $300,000 trying to finish my project and was almost at the point of just giving up when I met 121eCommerce - Magento Certified.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The objective was to create an online marketplace but with a specific functionality required to address the needs of making an offer on a construction home. 121eCommerce - Magento Certified took on the work, and we saw progress on a week-by-week basis.

What is the team composition?

Aaron (Client Advocate) is our point of contact but we also work with Ben (Founder & CEO), Daniel (Director of Client Services), and Sender (COO).

How did you come to work with 121eCommerce - Magento Certified?

Magento has preferred providers and partners. After going through quite a few of them with no success, we came across 121eCommerce - Magento Certified. There was just something about Daniel’s website and his big smile. They really led me to believe that we could speak to them in layman’s terms and not in e-commerce development jargon that I wouldn’t understand.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around $40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement started in August 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

121eCommerce - Magento Certified has lived up to their promises. The website is live and functional — this is huge. We have a site that works and that we can show to people. We’ve gone from zero to hero. Our team has a product that we’re proud of and can use now.

I’ve never had the kind of success that I’ve had with 121eCommerce - Magento Certified. They’re a partner who not only did what I asked them to do but also provided suggestions on how to make it better. They’re very much front thinkers. Their team always communicates things in a way that we can understand. They don’t block us out or keep us from participating.

How did 121eCommerce - Magento Certified perform from a project management standpoint?

In the past, I’ve worked with developers who followed the ‘Don’t call us. We’ll call you.’ ideology. That was extremely frustrating and disabling. 121eCommerce - Magento Certified has been the complete opposite. We meet with them every three days and stay in touch through the Slack channel.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their honesty. In this line of work, we’re getting billed for hours that we just have to trust that they’re putting in. In the beginning, I scrutinized everything and looked over every nook and cranny. Now when they send me a bill, the amount of value extracted is so high that I don’t scrutinize them. Everything falls in line with what we’ve been discussing. Trust is the overwhelming reason for that.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Sometimes they get so much work that they’re not able to finish as much as they’d like to. However, that’s not very high on the priority list; they get it done.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open to their suggestions, and you should open up to them. Lay your cards on the table and with the belief that they’re going to be successful. They’re a team player. If you’re not successful then they’re not successful.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the e-commerce digital marketing manager of Dealermarket.com. It’s a part of Autosoft DMS. We sell auto dealer supplies to car dealerships.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 121eCommerce?

We were making a platform change and wanted to upgrade while getting something specific to B2B sales.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped us switch from our old platform to Magento 2. Their team designed the new website and migrated some information from the old platform. Additionally, they directed us to one of their partners so we could integrate our Magento 2 platform with our Sage ERP system.

What is the team composition?

We work with 3–5 people. Our main correspondence is with a project manager.

How did you come to work with 121eCommerce?

We found them through an online search. They’re located somewhat close to us so we met with them and they seemed like a good fit.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement started in June 2019. The new website went live in April 2020, and now they’re handling maintenance.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The quality was great. They accomplished everything we wanted to. They never told us no or that something wasn’t possible.

How did 121eCommerce perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate through Slack, phone calls, meetings, and emails. We meet regularly and prioritize any outstanding projects. If there’s a deadline, they juggle things around to make it happen for us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m most impressed with their accessibility. If we need something, we usually get a quick response, usually within an hour, if not the same day.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there weren’t any major obstacles.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure you have your ideas clearly thought out before bringing them to 121eCommerce. The clearer you can communicate, the quicker and cheaper things will get done.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a team manager and former IT leader at a swimwear and lifeguard equipment company. We handle equipment that goes to the lifeguards in and around pools. Our company also sells competitive swimwear, such as custom apparel for high school or college teams.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 121eCommerce?

Our e-commerce website was originally on another platform, and we were looking to upgrade. The older platform just wasn’t keeping up with the technology, so there were some trials and errors. We had an in-house team back then that learned Magento, but it was too complex for us, and it kept changing. We looked for a third-party vendor to help us out. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

121eCommerce handles any kind of web or e-commerce development work that we have, including new games. They also maintain our website so we don’t have to keep anyone on staff for it. We’re going through marketing and visual changes this year, and they’ve been helping us out with that, too.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with 6–8 members of their team directly. However, almost all of the work goes to the account manager and project lead. 

How did you come to work with 121eCommerce?

Back when we were originally searching for third-party developers, we hired a different company. However, we had a falling out with them. Our team asked if we could get some recommendations, and they gave us a list of five companies. We interviewed each company, and 121eCommerce was one of them — they were the winners. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested between $1 million–$9 million. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in March 2020, and the project is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

The 121eCommerce team has handled our e-commerce site for the last several years. Over the years, they’ve done great work for us. They’re very transparent on everything, so if there are any issues, they tell us directly. 

How did 121eCommerce perform from a project management standpoint?

The communication is great. Communication was one of the biggest problems with the previous company we dealt with, so 121eCommerce’s communication was one thing we liked. Our teams communicate via Slack, and they keep us very up to date. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Again, communication is the big one — the coders that do the work are up to date on everything. They also allow us to test things out before we launch. Any big updates we do have to be outside business hours, and they work around that, too. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their services could be cheaper. They’re a little up there in price, although the quality’s definitely better. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Stay in contact with them, since they’re a fan of communication as well. If the potential customer likes a team that keeps them updated constantly, reciprocating that communication level with 121eCommerce is a good idea. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP and co-owner of Wooburn Press, an educational publishing company. We sell student materials such as planners, posters, and handouts to schools across the country.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 121eCommerce?

When we originally developed the site, we hired a non-certified Magento developer, and they were more of a marketing firm versus a website developer. They didn’t do a great job. Then, we switched to a certified Magento developer to migrate our site from our original platform.

However, we were still having site speed and development issues. We also had some difficulties with the developers. We would try to change one little thing, and it would take forever to go back and forth with the developer and project manager. The website just wasn’t getting to where I thought it should be based on the time and money we were putting into it.

We went to 121eCommerce so that we could better progress the website. We wanted to be able to add products and set up pages; all of those basic functions were very difficult with our previous developer, so we were looking to rectify those issues.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

121eCommerce initially tried to help us with our existing site, but it came to light pretty quickly that it had been built incorrectly to begin with. We formulated a plan to actually switch from the Community edition that we were on to the Enterprise edition. We basically built a whole new site on Enterprise.

We laid out everything that we wanted and pulled the elements of the products, product pages, and general setup from the old site onto the new one. The main scope of our project is done, but they continue to do site maintenance.

What is the team composition?

I work with four people from 121eCommerce on a regular basis. My main contact is Sholom (Account Representative), and we go back and forth on the project scope and what we’re trying to do. I don’t know exactly how they’re structured, but I work with Sholom on an almost daily basis.

I believe there are two main developers that we work with, and then there’s a different person who oversees our account.

How did you come to work with 121eCommerce?

We weren’t happy with our previous Magento developer, so we interviewed several Magento developers and got some references. We really did our homework in trying to find a developer that we thought we could trust, work with, and do the things we needed to. 

How much have you invested with them?

The site overhaul was about $175,000, and miscellaneous expenses and site maintenance have been about $75,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We signed the contract and scoped the project in May 2019. The new site launched in June 2020, and we continue to work with them to make enhancements and improvements. We’ll probably continue working with them for the next six months at least. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Our company doesn’t have any specific metrics — we’re a small company, and I was leading the charge. However, my measure of success is whether they get what we’re trying to do done in a timely fashion and whether it works. The official launch was on schedule and budget. 

How did 121eCommerce perform from a project management standpoint?

The communication is great, and their team is very responsive. We’ve set up a Slack channel, so I have direct access to communicate with them instantaneously. It’s been tremendously helpful to have that. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their knowledge of Magento and the ability to make suggestions have been impressive. As a company, we don’t know the ins and outs of Magento, so their expertise is appreciated — that’s why we hired them. They’re able to customize the site to our needs and what we’re looking for.

I really like how their organization is very streamlined, whereas our previous developer had multiple layers, and it was difficult to get anything done. I’d been very disappointed with that developer because it took a lot of time and money to get what I wanted to be done, and then it would still be wrong. I really appreciate working with Sholom — he’s very detail-oriented and wants to ensure he understands what we want so that when he goes to their developers, there’s no miscommunication on what we’re looking for. 

I’ve been very impressed by their developers because very rarely — if ever — do they come back with something that is wrong or doesn’t work correctly. By the time it gets back to me for testing, it’s really close or just requires minor tweaks. I really appreciate their expertise and the results that they provide.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No — I’m very satisfied and happy with our relationship, so I can’t see anything that I would suggest improving upon.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Potential customers should understand what they’re looking for and trying to do. 121eCommerce is super helpful with Magento and the services they offer, but it’s helpful if you’ve done your research of what you’re trying to accomplish when working with 121. They don’t know your business the way you do. The more you know what you’re trying to do, the better you’re going to be working with 121.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

M2 ecommerce

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire 121eCommerce, and what were your goals?

The project went on for two months. After countless back-and-forth correspondence, I was charged nearly 5K for administrative fees.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

adobe recommendation

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

They suggested I build a website from scratch with them... which would have cost at least 50K if not 70K the way they bill. I hired another dev guy for less than $1K and he fixed my site within 5 hours. 

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

5

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Nothing was fixed and their final conclusion was my site was unfixable. It was a faulty extension. Huge waste of time and money. I'd like a full credit because the services provided did not deliver!

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

They constantly ran up the tab with correspondence like a law firm. 

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

You would think that after paying them $1,200 for a diagnostic they would have discovered that if they actually did anything.

Company Responses

The vendor responded on October 26, 2022.

The client that left this review, had worked with (and fired) two previous agencies before us, which should have been a red flag. 

During our onboarding, the client complained about our onboarding fees which we use to set up a dedicated staging server that comes with automated QA tools such as Blackfire, and New Relic to ensure we are doing a higher-level of development than other agencies with better, clearer, code. 

While we noticed some red flags up front, in the interest of trying to build a relationship we agreed that we would credit the onboarding fees towards any future work, meaning that as long as the onboarding fees were paid upfront, we would credit this against future work being performed on the site. 

We started by working on the speed of her site, and increased it from an F to a C per the screenshots below: 

https://www.screencast.com/t/sa0G1OdpFN5
https://www.screencast.com/t/caCk4iBKw

The client refused to pay for the additional work to increase the site speed further from a C to an A, and told us that if we did not continue working (for free) she would leave negative reviews and perform a chargeback.

121eCommerce focuses on building relationships, and being threatened is not how we do business with our clients. We politely asked her to please take her business elsewhere, to which she answered by filing a chargeback (which we won)  and leaving a negative review.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Operations Manager of a B2B manufacturer of high quality proprietary suspension, steering and chassis components for popular trucks and UTV's.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire 121eCommerce, and what were your goals?

We were previously using a Webshop Manager. It didn’t take long for me to realize that that platform wasn’t very scalable for where we were trying to go. Where it started was we had gotten an extension for integrating QuickBooks into Magento. I was doing research into developers who had experience in custom coding the modifications to that particular extension, and I ran across 121. It brought visibility to the fact that they (121) had at the time, a lot of experience in the automotive industry.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

Mostly it was the infrastructure and the B2B tools were the primary reasons. Those are the two factors that just sort of felt like the community was cool.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

The first move that we had was we agreed that we were going to move because we were hosting our website, on site, with a private server, with our existing developer at the time. So, we had to get this stuff moved over to LexiConn. First, we bid that off and moved our existing community site over to LexiConn and so 121 helped get that executed. And then once that was done, basically, we were presented with two options, which was “hey, let’s just copy and paste that site over into Commerce and see how broken it gets.”

That actually went better than we thought it would. So that circumvented a lot of the not only upfront expense, but trial and error and redundancy of reinventing the wheel to try to get the thing ported over.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We started our process with Ben (CEO of 121), and we mostly communicate with Kim (Account Manager) who is great.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

I think it’s a little bit early to tell. There has been a positive outcome as far as usability goes internally. There wasn’t much change in revenue or in a positive or a negative way in regards to the switch only because we really didn’t change a lot like from the customer perspective, and daily use. It’s an exact copy of the existing site. We just barely are getting some of that stuff completed. So I don’t know that we really bear too much fruit from the switch because of how we decided to execute on the launch.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

It’s more streamlined and consistent with 121, compared to others. We have a Slack channel, and that has been the primary means of communication, which is pretty transparent and open, obviously. So that has been good, where previously it was basically we would email their (previous developer’s) tech support email, and they would open a ticket and slowly but surely chip away at that.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Our Account Manager, Kim, been the most pivotal thing that’s happened throughout the project that seems to have really improved execution and delivery of deliverables is having her on board to manage this thing for us.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

I don’t have any negative things to say on a global scale.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the general manager at Paddlesports Warehouse. We’re a distributor and wholesaler for canoe and kayak liveries and rentals.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 121eCommerce?

We needed someone to develop and design our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

121eCommerce built our website from scratch by upgrading it to Magento 2. They implemented retail and wholesaler accounts and integrated features such as inventory and pricing.

What is the team composition?

My main point of contact was a client advocate from their team.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent somewhere between $65,000–$70,000 USD.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from January–September 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The new website works the same as our old one so their output made me happy.

How did 121eCommerce perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed well from a project management perspective. We mostly communicated through emails.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We like that they were very pleasant to work with and responsive in answering my queries.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not that I can think of.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

To get the most out of the engagement, make sure you engage them back.